Col S.C.S. Comtois, CD

    • Col S.C.S. Comtois, CD

    After more than 26 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Military Engineers, Col Simon Comtois, CD, will retire on 29 January 2023. Anecdotes and retirement wishes may be sent to Capt S. Li at Edward.Li@forces.gc.ca.

    A Departure with Dignity for Col Comtois will be held on Thursday, 09 February 2023 at 14:00 hrs, in the RCAF Officers’ Mess (4 Queen Elizabeth Driveway, 4th floor). Please RSVP to Capt Edward Li at Edward.Li@forces.gc.ca. Congratulatory messages, stories, and anecdotes can also be sent to Capt Li.


    Born in Granby, Colonel Comtois enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces in 1996. He studied at the Collège Militaire Royal de St-Jean and at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, where he completed a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2001.

    After completing his military engineering training in Gagetown, NB, in 2003, he was transferred to Bagotville for his first posting. He held the positions of Energy Management and Sustainable Development Officer, Operations Officer, and Administrative and Technical Support Officer. In 2008, he was transferred to the Canadian Defence Academy in Kingston as the Engineering, Occupational Health and Safety, and Environment Officer. He then served as the Commanding Officer of the Construction Engineering Squadron at 4 Wing Cold Lake from 2010 to 2013. After completing the JCSP program at the Staff College in Toronto, he was posted back to Bagotville with the 2nd Expeditionary Wing until July 2015. From 2015 to 2018, he was the Commander of the Mission Support Squadron at 3 Wing/CFB Bagotville, followed by two years as the A4 CE Director at 1 Canadian Air Division in Winnipeg. For one year, he served as the Director of the Joint Engineering at Canadian Joint Operations Command, and since the summer of 2021, has assumed command of the Military Support Unit at DRDC.

    Colonel Comtois has had the opportunity to deploy on several international operations. He deployed on Op ATHENA in Kabul in 2005 and in Kandahar in 2008. He also deployed on Op IMPACT in Cyprus in 2014 and on Op RENAISSANCE in Nepal in 2015.

    Colonel Comtois holds a Master's degree in Defense Studies, completed in 2014, as well as a Master's degree in Business Administration, completed in 2015. He enjoys social activities of all kinds as well as multiple sports such as squash, volleyball, field hockey, golf, and fishing. He is married and the proud father of three girls, aged four, two, and a newborn baby